The French news agency says 20 people were wounded in the attack Sunday in the town of Ain al-Tamer, located about 50 kilometers from the holy Shi'ite city of Karbala.

"They were carrying Kalashnikovs, hand grenades," said Qais Khalaf, the head of the central Euphrates operations command. "One of them blew himself up and the others were killed by the security forces."

Officials say there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but other recent attacks have been claimed by Islamic State.